BANKING ANALYTICS

Ranking of the Azerbaijani banking sector (ranking includes the information component of the banking sector, the main events of the world economy, the analytical review of the main indices of the banks which are being ranked)

Major events in Caspian countries' oil and gas industry for last week (March 10-15)

Partners on Shah Deniz agree on conducting exploration work under third phase

Partners on the project for development of the Shah Deniz gas condensate field have agreed on plans for conducting exploration work under the third phase of the field's development, a senior representative of State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) said.

The project's operator presented its data to the project partners, in accordance to which more gas and condensate reserves can be detected in the Shah Deniz field, according to the senior representative. In this case we are talking about an additional 0.5 trillion cubic meters of gas and relevant volume of condensate.

New tariff for pumping Azerbaijan's oil via Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline announced

Under the new terms the tariff for pumping Azerbaijan's oil via Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline exceeds $16 per ton, a source in the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) said.

Under the previous agreement the tariff for transportation of oil via the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline was $15.67 per ton.

Oil pumping via this pipeline was suspended in February 2014 and forwarded to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC), which exports most of the oil produced in Azerbaijan (from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli block of oil and gas fields).

However, SOCAR and Russian Transneft have recently signed a new one-year agreement. Oil transportation via the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline was restored according to this agreement.

Oman, Iran agree to build submarine gas pipeline

Oman signed an initial agreement with Iran Wednesday to build a $1 billion submarine pipeline to import gas from the Islamic republic, Oman's oil and gas minister said, AFP reported.

The agreement was reached on the first day of a visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
"We have signed an initial agreement to build a pipeline under the Gulf of Oman to transport gas from Iran to Oman," Mohammad al-Ramahi said.

The project should be completed by the end of 2017 and will cost around $1 billion (721 million euros), he said.

Subsoil users to supply oil to refinery without mediators in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan plans to introduce regulations excluding intermediaries from the process of oil supply from subsoil users to refinery, Kazakh Minister of Economy and Budget Planning, Erbolat Dossaev said at the government meeting while presenting a comprehensive plan to combat the shadow economy in the country in 2014-2015.

He said that a rule providing the exclusion of intermediaries from the process of oil supply to the refinery by subsoil user is planned and a similar rule will also be valid for a mini-refinery.
The Kazakh government intends to approve the list of documents confirming the legality of the origin of oil that enters a refinery, according to Dossayev.

Kazakhstan increases rates for crude oil export customs duty

The export customs duty for crude oil will grow in Kazakhstan by $20 - from $60 to $80 per ton, Kazakh Economy and Budget Planning Minister, Yerbolat Dossayev said.

Commercial oil inflow from Turkmen Altiguyi field

The Turkmennebit (Turkmenoil) state concern has obtained a commercial oil inflow as a result of exploration at the Altiguyi field, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Turkmenistan reported.

'Appraisal well No.22 was drilled with the purpose evaluating the new well at the industrially developed field Altungayi, located in the West of Turkmenistan achieved a design depth of 4100 metres this year. As a result of geophysical exploration and data obtained from the well exploration work started in the open segment', the statement said.

As a result of exploration work carried out at the 4012-4018 segments of lower red beds an inflow of industrial oil was gained, according to the report.

Previously Altyguyi was recognised only as a gas field. Reports on the discovery of oil began in 2010.